Weekend Plug-in 🔌

Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-in” features analysis, fact checking and top headlines from the world of faith. Subscribe now to get this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. Got feedback or ideas? Email Bobby Ross Jr. at therossnews@gmail.com.

(ANALYSIS) Santa Claus is coming to town!

Next week, in fact.

With Christmas and New Year’s on the way, this marks the final regular edition of Weekend Plug-in for 2022. As we wrap up three years of this newsletter, I want to thank everyone who reads and supports Plug-in. Please keep sharing it with your friends!

Next week, we’ll do our annual roundup of the best religion journalism of the calendar year. I’m still taking nominations from Godbeat pros for this list.

Then in two weeks, we’ll highlight the best of ReligionUnplugged.com for 2022, just as we did last year.

Keeping in the Christmas spirit, here are seven holly jolly reads:

• Peace on earth in a land of unrest (by Audrey Jackson, Christian Chronicle)

• Bethlehem welcomes Christmas tourists after pandemic lull (by Sam McNeil, Associated Press)

• 5 unique variations of Santa Claus around the world (by Deborah Laker, ReligionUnplugged.com)

• Most churches plan to open on Christmas and New Year’s (by Aaron Earls, Lifeway Research)

• After cows escaped its live nativity event, this North Carolina church had a not-so-silent night (by Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)

• When is Christmas? For church leaders, it's complicated (by Terry Mattingly, Universal Syndicate)

• Unitarians and Episcopalians created American Christmas (by Daniel K. Williams, Christianity Today)

Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads

1. Antisemitism is rising at colleges, and Jewish students are facing growing hostility: “College campuses have long hosted heated debates about the Israel-Palestinian conflict,” The Wall Street Journal’s Douglas Belkin explains.

“But now, students say anti-Jewish antagonism is on the rise: Antisemitic incidents have increased, and a growing number of campus groups bar students who support Israel from speaking or joining.”

2. A rape survivor’s careful activism in a place where #MeToo feels taboo: “After helping launch the evangelical offshoot of #MeToo, Megan Lively still does not embrace the label, but she remains committed to helping survivors.”

Veteran religion writer Michelle Boorstein travels to North Carolina to profile Lively for the Washington Post.

3. Dave Ramsey's 'righteous living': Inside the conflict over religion and sexuality at Ramsey Solutions: “For-profit companies are increasingly at the center of a national debate about how their owners can express their views — most notably conservative religious ones — and how those rights translate to their employees and the customers those businesses serve.”

The Tennessean’s Liam Adams spent months studying practices at Ramsey Solutions, including reviewing 1,500 pages of court records.

BONUS: President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed the Respect for Marriage Act into federal law, calling it “a blow against hate.”

While some conservatives voice concern that the law “not only contradicts the biblical view of marriage as only between a man and a woman but poses a threat to religious freedom,” others view it as fair to both sides.

Stanley Carlson-Thies, founder and senior director of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance, notes that the law “incorporates multiple religious freedom protections.”

At Church Law & Tax, attorney and CPA Richard R. Hammar points out that the law protects “all religious liberty and conscience protections available under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and prevents the Act from being used to diminish or repeal any such protection.”

And two prominent Latter-Day Saints leaders joined the White House ceremony. Plug-in earlier highlighted the Mormon church’s backing of the measure, despite concerns from other conservative faith groups.

More Top Reads

• Not only Catholic churches celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (by Alejandra Molina, Religion News Service)

• As attendance dips, churches change to stay relevant for a new wave of worshippers (by John Burnett, NPR)

• Intolerance, overturning of Roe lead to dramatic rise in attacks on churches, study reveals (by Mark A. Kellner, Washington Times)

• Shopping for a new church? Your politics may determine which pew fits (by Bob Smietana, RNS)

• Jesuit case underscores secrecy, leniency for abuse of women (by Nicole Winfield, Associated Press)

• Jordan unveils $100 million master plan for the second millennium of Jesus’ baptism (by Daoud Kuttab, RNS)

• At ‘Church City,’ a taste of Catholic life in Qatar (by Mariam Fam, AP)

• In Ukraine, ‘a mission for light’ illuminates daily life far from the fighting (by Chris Herlinger, Global Sisters Report)

• Do Gen Z’s views on religion put the future of religious freedom at risk? (by Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)

• Washington man indicted in fires at Jehovah’s Witness halls (by Gene Johnson, AP)

• Why we stay: Preachers explain why they won’t cut United Methodist ties (by Carla Hinton, The Oklahoman)

• Kippah under his helmet, this yeshiva grad is now a Texas A&M running back (by Kimberly Winston, The Forward)

• Psychedelic chaplains: In clinical trials, a new form of spiritual guide emerges (by Kathryn Post, RNS)

Inside The Godbeat: Behind The Bylines

For the Faith Angle podcast, the Deseret News’ Kelsey Dallas interviewed the Rev. Russell Levenson, author of the new book “Witness to Dignity.”

The book explores the life and faith of the late George H.W. and Barbara Bush, who attended the Houston church where Levenson serves as the rector.

Charging Station: In Case You Missed It

Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from ReligionUnplugged.com.

• Refugees and religion in Russia’s war against Ukraine (by Mark R. Elliott)

• The Hindutva threat outside India (by Paul Marshall and Lidia Papp)

• Long history behind bitter Orthodox schism in Ukraine (by Terry Mattingly)

• What are Iran’s morality police? A scholar of the Middle East explains their history (by Pardis Mahdavi)

• How a Catholic nun in Uganda created a global program for the terminally ill (by Amy Fallon)

• Missionary pilot detained in Mozambique after relief supplies flagged (by Anne Stych)

• Restaurant staff refuses to serve Christian nonprofit over views on abortion, marriage (by Dale Chamberlain)

• West Bank city’s Christian residents face uncertain future as emigration takes toll (by Gil Zohar)

• From churches in Qatar to Brazil’s evangelicals: Religion storylines at the FIFA World Cup (by Clemente Lisi)

• Latest Empty Tomb Inc. numbers: Do churches still have funds for charity and missions? (by Terry Mattingly)

• Vermont to reimburse families for tuition to private religious schools (by Kim Roberts)

• Cost to send missionaries overseas varies widely (by Shannon Cuthrell)

The Final Plug

A feature by Forbes’ Allyson Portee explores a faith-based brand that — to quote — “encourages through minimal clothing.”

Say what?

I had the same reaction as Christianity Today’s Kate Shellnutt. But it’s not what you might think.

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.

Bobby Ross Jr. is a columnist for ReligionUnplugged.com and editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 15 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.